Vehicle body construction



Dec 29, 1931. J'. LEDWINKA I VEHICLE BODY CONSTRUCTION Filed; Feb. 15, 1928 F'TIG.

FIG. '2.

INVENTOR.

JOSEPH LEDWINKA. W

ATTORNEY.

WWW

TNT "OFFICE JOSEPH LE WINKA; or PHILADELPHIA, rENNsYLvANrA, ASSIGNOR r0 EDWARD e.

BUDD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or rrrrrannrrrrra, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA vnrrrorn BonY coNsrn'norroN Application filed February 13, 1928. Serial No. 253,815.

My invention relates to vehicle body wall constructions, and more particularly to the joinder of the adjacent edges of a pair of wall panels, the invention being particularly applicable to the joinder of inner and outer panels in such body wall constructions as that disclosed in my prior copending applications Serial Nos. 159,827 and 159,829 filed on the 8th day of J anuary, 1927 now Patents Nos. 1,808,561 and 1,774,020 respectively, and

covering. respectively, Pressed -metal vehicle body and Pressed metal vehicle door, 1n which one of the joined panels is normally not exposed to view, while the otherforms a portion of the body wall exposed to view.

'It is a main object of my invention to provide a joinderof the adjacent edges of such panelswhereby the joint is normally entirely hidden from view, and thus presents a very neat appearance to the eye, and wh1ch permits the use of a material, such 'as a coarser grade of metal, for the normally h1dden panel, than for the exposed panel, thereby reducing the total cost of materials enteringinto' the wall structure; and it is a further object of my; invention to provide a j oinder which is strong and durable and positively prevents relative movement between the edges of the joined panels. 7 a

I attain these objects in a veryhigh degree by the use of the locked crimper joinder hereinafter described in detail, and shown'in the accompanying drawings, though I wish it to be understood that theiorm shown and described herein is merely illustrative and that the details thereof may be varied, andsuch variations and'changesin specific construetion as fall within the spirit and scope of'the invention are embraced in thescope of the claims at the end of the specification. In the drawings. 7 r

Fig. 1 shows in side elevation a body of the sedan type to which I have shown my invention applied. I v 3 Fig. 2 shows in a detail sectional view the joinder of the normally hidden inner and the exposed outer panels of the fixedbody wall constituting the usual BG post between the front and rear door openings-and the joinder ofthe normally exposed door panillustration of my invention, the fixed wall structure comprises inner and outer panels 11 and 10, such as sheet metal stampings extending entirely around the door and window openings, spaced in their bodies and joined in their outer margins at points remote from said openings. In the region of the B-@ post, the outer panel is formed as a unitary stamping of inwardly presenting channel form, and, is in this case, shown formed on its forward and rearward sides with a double rabbet, receiving the correspondingly rabbeted front and rear door edges. a

The laterally extending flanges 13 and 14 forming with the adjacent side walls the channel shaped post structure the inner rabbets, are provided, prior to assembly, with the inwardly extending portions shown in dotted lines at 15 and 16. These inwardly extended portions aid in guiding the inner panel portion 11, which may also be a stamping, but because of its normally hidden location behind the upholstery (not shown) may be a cheaper and coarser and less finely finished grade of metal than the outer panel. into position for joinder with the outer panel with its edge portions 17 and 18 seated, respectively, against thelaterally extending flanges 13 and 14 of the outer panel stamping. The joinder of the panels is then effected by turning down the inwardly extending portions indicated at 15 and 16 and firmly crimping the edges 17 and 18 between the flanges 13 and 14 and their turned down extensions at 15 and 16. This form of j oinder provides a smooth exterior surface and when the upholstery is in place gives no visible indication of the joinder, since the upholstery and wind break normally cover even the turned down portions at 15 and 16, of :the outer panel. To prevent in a very positive manner any relative shifting of the crimped together edges of the outer and inner panels, I provide an interlocking connection at the joint and one form of such interlock may comprise, as shown, forming depressions or recesses 19 and 20, adjacent the edges of the inner panel and crimping the extreme edges 21 and 22 of the outer panel down into said recesses. By making such recesses of varying depth or discontinuous, it will be seen that an interlock would be provided preventing relative movement of the crimped edges in all directions. In the drawings, where the inner panel is shown as made of a stamping, the formation of the recesses on one side produces shoulders 23 and 24c on the other side, which abut the inner faces of the side walls of the channel shaped outer panel, and are locked in such abutting relation by the turned down extreme edges 21 and 22.

Thus it will be seen, there is provided. between the inner and outer panels very secure locked crimped joinder which covers up all raw edges, so that the exposed portions of the body wall in this region has a continuous smooth exterior surface, well adapted to take the baked enamel finish, usually provided to finish the exterior of metal vehicle bodies.

The same eflicient joinder is also shown provided in the movable wall structures or doors and since the structure of these is identical, except that they are arranged in reverse directions only one will be described in detail.

The dooris constructed, as in the prior application above referred to, with outer and inner panels 25 and 26, both of which are normally exposed to view and hence correspond, for the purposes of this invention, to the outer panel 10 of the fixed wall structure. These panels are stampings joined in their outer margins by crimping the outer panel 25 over the door overlap flange 27 of the in ner panel and at their inner margins around the window opening they are joined to the adjacent side walls 28 and 29 of the glass run channel stampings which correspond, since they are normally substantially hidden from view, to the inner panel 11 of the fixed wall structure. These glass run channel stampings, or hidden panels. are shown formed as separate stampings joined at the bottom of the glass run, as by spot welding, and one of them is extended and the extension 30 is secured in the inner rabbet of the inner panel 26, also by spot welding. The joinder between the edges of the outer and inner panel stampings 25 and 26 and the adjacent edges of the glass run panels or stampings is substanti ally the same as that between the outer and inner panels of the fixed wall structure.

The edges 31 and 32 of the side walls of the glass run are crimped between the turned over edge portions 33 and 34-. of the outer and inner panels and the interlock is effected by having the extreme edge portions 35 and 36 crimped into recesses or depressions 37 and 38 formed in the glass run stampings 28 and 29. The depressions 37 and 38 form shoulders 39 and 40 on the opposite side walls of the stamping 28 and 29, which shoulders abut and are held in abutting relation with corresponding shoulders 41 and 42 on the outer and inner panels, by the crimped over extreme edge portions 35 and 36 of the outer and inner panels.

The invention has hereinbefore been shown only in its application to the door openings of a fixed body wall structure and to the window opening for a sliding window of a movable body wall structure or door, but it will be obvious that it is not limited in its application to these precise locations, and to the particular body structures, nor to the type of body set forth in detail.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicle body construction, a wall panel not normally exposed to view, a sheet metal stamping extending along the margin of a closure opening and normally forming a portion of the body exposed to view, and joined to the panel along their adjacent edges in the margin of said opening by crimping the edge of the stamping over the edge of the panel and means carried by such stamping and panel and rendered effective by such crimping interlocking the stamping with the panel to prevent relative movement of said crimped together edges transverse to the joint.

2. A vehicle body construction, a wall panel not normally exposed to view, a sheet metal stamping extending along the margin of a closure opening and normally forming a portion of the body exposed to view, and joined to the panel along their adjacent edges in the margin of said opening by crimping the edge of the stamping over the edge of the panel, and formations on said panel and the crimped over edge of the stamping for interlocking said edges to prevent relative movement thereof transverse to the joint.

3. A vehicle body construction, a wall panel not normally exposed to view, a sheet metal stamping extending along the margin of a closure opening and normally forming a portion of the body exposed to view, and joined to the panel along their adjacent edges in the margin of said opening by crimping the edge of the stamping over the edge of the panel, said panel being formed with a shoulder on one side and a depression on the other, the stamping being formed with a shoulder abutting the shoulder of the panel, and the crimped over portion of the stamping interlocking with said depression to lock the shoulders in abutting relation.

4. A vehicle body construction, a normally hidden wall panel of pressed metal having a depression formed in one side thereof and a corresponding shoulder on the otherside thereof adjacent its edge, a sheet metal stamping'extending along the margin of said opening and normally forming a por-' tion of the body wall exposed to view and having a shoulder abutting the shoulder on the panel and having its edge in the margin 7 of said opening crimped over the edge of the panel and into said depression to lock said shoulders in abutting relation, and the edges of the panel and stamping against relative movement. a a y 5. A vehicle body construction, an inner wall panel formed adjacent its edge with a' depression forming a shoulder on its outer side and an edge flange extending from said shoulder substantially in the plane of the wall and an outer sheet metal stamping having a transversely extending portion forming a closure framing and having its inner portion seated against said shoulder, and

provided at such inner portion with an edge his signature.

JOSEPH LEDWINKA. 

